Music Friday: ‘Golden Ring’ Reflects the Turbulent Real-Life Romance of George Jones and Tammy Wynette

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, a modest second-hand wedding band is the focus of “Golden Ring,” a chart-topping duet by country legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette.

In the song, we follow a golden band through a cycle of young love, marriage and eventual heartbreak. Jones and Wynette were a married couple for six years, but divorced in 1975. They continued to perform after the breakup and scored a #1 hit in 1976 with a song that seemed to mirror the story of their tumultuous relationship.

The beginning of the song introduces the listener to a glittering ring that symbolizes all the promise of a young love. The second verse sees the couple exchanging vows and making a home for themselves. In the last verse, however, the relationship has gone sour and the ring reverts to the display case in a second-hand store where it was originally purchased.

The chorus punctuates the prevailing theme: “By itself it’s just a cold metallic thing / Only love can make a golden wedding ring.”

Written by Bobby Braddock and Rafe Vanhoy, “Golden Ring” was the title track to the Jones/Wynette duet album released in 1976 and the second of three #1 hits sung by the duo. The first was “We’re Gonna Hold On” (1973) and the last was “Near You” (1977).

Even though their marriage didn’t end well, in her autobiography, Wynette wrote, “The most fun, the most wonderful part of my career was working with George.”

Born in a log cabin in the small town of Saratoga, Texas, Jones got his first guitar at the age of nine. By 1955, at the age of 24, Jones had already served in the Marines, was married twice and recorded his first hit song, “Why Baby Why.” In 1969, he married Wynette.

Over a career that spanned seven decades, Jones is credited with charting 168 country songs. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992. Jones passed away in 2013 at the age of 81.

Wynette, who was born in Tremont, Miss., in 1942, is considered to be one of the most influential singers in country music history. She scored 20 #1 hits on the U.S. country singles charts (16 solo, three with Jones, and one with David Houston). She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and was ranked #2 in Country Music Television’s “40 Greatest Women of Country Music.”

Plagued by medical problems, which required 15 major operations, Wynette passed away in 1998 at the age of 55.

Please check out the performance of “Golden Ring” by Jones and Wynette. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Golden Ring”
Written by Bobby Braddock and Rafe Van Hoy. Performed by George Jones and Tammy Wynette.

In a pawn shop in Chicago
On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings
There on display

She smiles n’ nods her head
As he says, “Honey that’s for you,
It’s not much, but it’s the best
That I can do.”

Golden rings (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Waiting there (waiting there) for someone to take you home
By itself (by itself) it’s just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring

In a little wedding chapel later on that afternoon
An old upright piano plays that old familiar tune
Tears roll down her cheeks
And happy thoughts run through her head
As he whispers low, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Shining ring (shining ring) now at last it’s found a home
By itself (by itself) it’s just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring

Ooo-ooo
In a small two room apartment
As they fought their final round
He says, “You won’t admit it,
But I know you’re leavin’ town.”

She says, “One thing’s for certain,
I don’t love you any more.”
And throws down the ring
As she walks out the door

Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Cast aside (cast aside) like the love that’s dead and gone
By itself (by itself) it’s just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring

In a pawn shop in Chicago
On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings
There on display,
Golden ring.

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